Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Shawn Adams is an American teacher in Oman who has been a
lifelong conservative, and someone I consider a comrade. Our paths crossed some
time ago, and many debates involving politics and culture followed. This is his
take on the 2012 Republican primary.

I have been a
conservative all my life. I have almost always voted for Republican candidates,
but these past few elections have made me rethink who I was voting for and why.
When I was asked to write this, I had no idea what to say about the likes of
Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, or Rick Perry. So I decided to examine my
opinions the frontrunners and evaluate their chances of getting the Republican
nomination, and in some cases, how I think they would do in the presidential
election. SPOILER: Not Very Well.

Michele Bachmann: Honestly, this woman kind of freaks me out,
even as a conservative; she just has some strange views, and her husband's odd
views do not help her in any way. She may be able to rally the Uber Right, but
she will never pull in the undecided voters in the election, and the Republican
Party knows this. She will most likely not be nominated.

Rick Perry: This guy just strikes me as Michele Bachmann with XY chromosomes, and
I bet most voters feel the same way. Voters tend not to mind you talking about
your faith, Rick, but when that is all we hear you talk about, it makes us
uneasy. If it makes conservatives worried, then how much more will it put off
the swing voter?

Ron Paul: Once again, he's a little too weird to pull in those much-needed
swing votes in the election. He may, in the eyes of most undecided voters, be
way too far right of the game to vote for. He and Bachmann both need to see
that although the far-right rhetoric may garner a lot of votes from your own
party, this will not equal winning an election. For this reason, he will have
an uphill battle to get the nomination.

Mitt Romney: I had a hard time choosing whether I thought Mitt or good old Newt
Gingrich would be the front runner of this primary. I came to the conclusion
that Romney's Mormon beliefs would put him at a serious disadvantage over Newt
and would be a real deal breaker, both with the swing voters and the Far Right.
Voters might feel that this guy does not think like we do:will he vote like we do in the crunch
time?Plus, come on: you put this guy up
against Obama, and he will look
like a wacko religious nut, even if he is not.

Newt Gingrich: He can take the primaries and probably will
get the nomination. All
the skeletons are out of his closet. Which means no October Surprise for
old Newt. He has proven he is a strong leader and will fight for what he
believes in.Newt happens to be the
only candidate in this primary who seems normal and who has not gone off the
deep end.The problem with Newt is that
he can be too liberal for the conservatives, and he may be too conservative for
the undecided.

None of these
non-candidates will have a fighting chance against an incumbent president
anyway, mainly because the voting public is scared of change and always has
been, but also due to the fact that most of the candidates at the moment are
just plain out-there or way too religious for the common public's comfort. Even
if any of these guys (or gals) gets the nomination, they would need a miracle
to win the presidential election. So assuming that Obama doesn't screw up in
the coming year (and it would have to be a major
screw up), we are looking at four more years of Hope and Change. But hey,
these are only my opinions. Take them or leave it.

About Me

Born of parents both recently and distantly American, I was once an activist and advocate for the socialist left. Nowadays, I am a defender of the "Responsibility to Protect" who stands for universal rights and liberty.
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